https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/ancient-rome/RSS feed for Ancient RomeenFri, 16 Oct 2026 20:16:08 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rembrandt-turned-ancient-myths-into-supremely-human-works-of-art-an-upcoming-exhibition-traces-the-inspiration-he-took-from-antiquity-180989705/"Rembrandt and the Ancients" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will unpack an "underexplored but vital" part of the Dutch master's career, putting his paintings and drawings in conversation with the antecedents that inspired themFri, 16 Oct 2026 20:16:08 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rembrandt-turned-ancient-myths-into-supremely-human-works-of-art-an-upcoming-exhibition-traces-the-inspiration-he-took-from-antiquity-180989705/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/legend-has-it-that-this-roman-emperor-established-camp-wales-newly-discovered-fort-may-offer-proof-that-it-really-existed-180989702/An archaeologist has uncovered an ancient fortification linked to Magnus Maximus, a fourth-century ruler who is immortalized in the medieval "Mabinogion" stories as Macsen WledigFri, 16 Oct 2026 18:51:49 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/legend-has-it-that-this-roman-emperor-established-camp-wales-newly-discovered-fort-may-offer-proof-that-it-really-existed-180989702/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-in-egypt-discover-a-mud-brick-tomb-featuring-a-heartbreaking-elegy-to-an-ancient-mans-father-180989677/The 19-line poem was inscribed on a stone slab in the Bir al-Shaghala necropolis. The lament "is a highly literary and original epigram," a scholar saysWed, 14 Oct 2026 11:30:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-in-egypt-discover-a-mud-brick-tomb-featuring-a-heartbreaking-elegy-to-an-ancient-mans-father-180989677/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-one-of-a-kind-bronze-ring-offers-a-tantalizing-glimpse-at-the-lighthouse-of-alexandria-a-lost-wonder-of-the-ancient-world-180989661/Archaeologists in Egypt discovered the signet ring while conducting excavations on the island of Antirhodos, which once housed a lavish Ptolemaic palaceFri, 09 Oct 2026 15:21:52 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-one-of-a-kind-bronze-ring-offers-a-tantalizing-glimpse-at-the-lighthouse-of-alexandria-a-lost-wonder-of-the-ancient-world-180989661/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/just-inches-below-the-forest-floor-archaeologists-in-germany-unearthed-a-roman-temple-likely-dedicated-to-mars-the-god-of-war-180989650/Researchers found the structure's remains, as well as fragments of statues, while excavating near the Kapersburg fort, an ancient Roman military fortification on the outskirts of modern-day FrankfurtThu, 08 Oct 2026 19:32:02 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/just-inches-below-the-forest-floor-archaeologists-in-germany-unearthed-a-roman-temple-likely-dedicated-to-mars-the-god-of-war-180989650/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/jmw-turner-painted-this-breathtaking-roman-landscape-nearly-200-years-ago-if-you-look-closely-you-can-still-see-his-fingerprints-180989659/The Romantic painter completed "Rome, From Mount Aventine" in the 1830s. It became his most expensive artwork in 2014, and it's expected to sell for another record-breaking sum in DecemberThu, 08 Oct 2026 18:56:43 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/jmw-turner-painted-this-breathtaking-roman-landscape-nearly-200-years-ago-if-you-look-closely-you-can-still-see-his-fingerprints-180989659/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-ship-carrying-stacks-of-ancient-dishware-sank-off-the-coast-of-turkey-2100-years-ago-its-ceramic-cargo-is-still-remarkably-intact-180989626/Researchers believe that the vessel's plates and bowls were made in the ancient city of Rhosus, once praised by Roman statesman Cicero for its "fine pottery"Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-ship-carrying-stacks-of-ancient-dishware-sank-off-the-coast-of-turkey-2100-years-ago-its-ceramic-cargo-is-still-remarkably-intact-180989626/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-are-medieval-english-coins-doing-in-rome-they-could-be-rare-evidence-of-a-little-england-enclave-that-received-special-papal-privileges-180989625/Researchers argue that the tenth-century coins provide new evidence of a bustling English community located next to the Vatican that was permitted to use its own currencyTue, 06 Oct 2026 20:33:52 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-are-medieval-english-coins-doing-in-rome-they-could-be-rare-evidence-of-a-little-england-enclave-that-received-special-papal-privileges-180989625/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-exhibition-reveals-how-hot-pink-togas-and-floral-perfumes-conveyed-power-in-the-roman-empire-180989615/The show in Copenhagen explores the relationship between fashion and influence in ancient RomeMon, 05 Oct 2026 19:00:27 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-exhibition-reveals-how-hot-pink-togas-and-floral-perfumes-conveyed-power-in-the-roman-empire-180989615/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-exhibition-spotlights-4500-years-of-broken-shot-up-and-degraded-artworks-to-explore-the-power-of-the-fragment-180989602/The show, on view in Florence and coming to D.C. next year, examines the history and impact of destroyed sculptures throughout time and across culturesFri, 02 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-exhibition-spotlights-4500-years-of-broken-shot-up-and-degraded-artworks-to-explore-the-power-of-the-fragment-180989602/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/when-jane-austen-took-a-turn-about-the-ballroom-in-bath-ancient-roman-artifacts-were-hiding-beneath-her-feet-now-archaeologists-have-finally-found-them-180989592/Recent excavations at the Bath Assembly Rooms in England revealed Roman-era coins, roof tiles, pottery, glassware, a network of ditches and a fragment of a military helmetWed, 30 Sep 2026 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/when-jane-austen-took-a-turn-about-the-ballroom-in-bath-ancient-roman-artifacts-were-hiding-beneath-her-feet-now-archaeologists-have-finally-found-them-180989592/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-one-of-romes-most-famed-and-neglected-villas-centuries-old-risque-frescoes-painted-over-by-nuns-have-reappeared-180989585/Nearly a year into a $40 million restoration of the Villa Silvestri Rivaldi, conservators are rediscovering and reviving 16th-century artTue, 29 Sep 2026 20:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-one-of-romes-most-famed-and-neglected-villas-centuries-old-risque-frescoes-painted-over-by-nuns-have-reappeared-180989585/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-researcher-studying-in-a-dutch-library-was-amazed-to-discover-a-scrap-of-parchment-from-a-1700-year-old-copy-of-the-odyssey-180989524/The handwritten fragment contains Greek verses from Book 12 of Homer’s epic, in which King Odysseus recounts the fate of his doomed crewMon, 21 Sep 2026 14:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-researcher-studying-in-a-dutch-library-was-amazed-to-discover-a-scrap-of-parchment-from-a-1700-year-old-copy-of-the-odyssey-180989524/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/pope-leo-xiv-makes-a-splash-for-his-71st-birthday-announcing-a-water-themed-art-exhibition-at-the-vatican-library-180989515/Contemporary sculptures, fish made from typographic elements, centuries-old treatises and historical global cookbooks will feature in the new ‘Catastrophe and Wonder’ art showThu, 17 Sep 2026 19:12:24 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/pope-leo-xiv-makes-a-splash-for-his-71st-birthday-announcing-a-water-themed-art-exhibition-at-the-vatican-library-180989515/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-rare-marble-sculpture-by-americas-first-professional-female-sculptor-sat-hidden-in-plain-sight-for-decades-in-english-garden-180989508/Until its discovery during a house appraisal, the debut bust by Harriet Goodhue Hosmer, a celebrated artist and feminist icon, had been mistaken for an ordinary garden ornamentThu, 17 Sep 2026 14:30:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-rare-marble-sculpture-by-americas-first-professional-female-sculptor-sat-hidden-in-plain-sight-for-decades-in-english-garden-180989508/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-have-created-a-digital-map-of-the-roman-empires-190000-mile-network-of-roads-turns-out-not-all-of-them-led-to-rome-180989509/For a new study, archaeologists attempted to answer age-old questions about Rome’s roads, including how connected the capital was and whether current motorways trace Roman routesThu, 17 Sep 2026 14:10:20 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-have-created-a-digital-map-of-the-roman-empires-190000-mile-network-of-roads-turns-out-not-all-of-them-led-to-rome-180989509/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-romes-largest-fresco-and-mosaic-complex-featuring-depictions-of-a-mysterious-maritime-city-opens-to-the-public-after-2000-years-180989484/The massive artworks, created in the first century C.E., were discovered in the 1990s during excavations of the Baths of TrajanFri, 11 Sep 2026 15:31:29 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-romes-largest-fresco-and-mosaic-complex-featuring-depictions-of-a-mysterious-maritime-city-opens-to-the-public-after-2000-years-180989484/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/deep-inside-spanish-cave-roman-women-may-have-worshipped-mysterious-goddess-180989414/Best known for its Paleolithic art, Valencia’s Cova de les Dones also contains a Roman sanctuary where researchers say women appear to have played an active role in the worship of a female deityFri, 28 Aug 2026 18:43:43 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/deep-inside-spanish-cave-roman-women-may-have-worshipped-mysterious-goddess-180989414/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/brittle-coating-on-2200-year-old-roman-shipwreck-revealing-how-ancient-soliders-kept-ships-afloat-180989394/Traces of pine tar and beeswax preserved on the vessel reveal the painstaking techniques shipbuilders millennia ago used to protect their ships from the briny deepWed, 26 Aug 2026 18:45:17 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/brittle-coating-on-2200-year-old-roman-shipwreck-revealing-how-ancient-soliders-kept-ships-afloat-180989394/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/construction-in-austria-revealed-roman-era-mass-grave-beneath-soccer-field-new-research-suggests-that-the-mens-enemies-targeted-their-sensitive-areas-180989372/No written records mention a fight in this specific part of Vienna at the time of the men's deaths. But the brutal nature of their injuries, particularly to the pelvis area, indicates that these individuals died on the battlefieldThu, 20 Aug 2026 15:06:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/construction-in-austria-revealed-roman-era-mass-grave-beneath-soccer-field-new-research-suggests-that-the-mens-enemies-targeted-their-sensitive-areas-180989372/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/you-can-now-see-one-of-oldest-surviving-copies-of-the-odyssey-at-metropolitan-museum-of-art-180989360/The papyrus fragment contains three lines that don't appear in standard modern-day translations of Homer's epic poemWed, 19 Aug 2026 13:19:26 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/you-can-now-see-one-of-oldest-surviving-copies-of-the-odyssey-at-metropolitan-museum-of-art-180989360/